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Bomb squad searches Frontier airplane after passenger arrested

Adams County has thrown regional cooperation onto its heels. Declaring a "Notice of Default," the county has demanded the city return property annexed to build Denver International Airport before non-aviation development may occur. (Denver Post file photo)

FBI agents and Denver police arrested a male passenger on an inbound Frontier airplane from Knoxville, Tenn., Friday night, and then searched the plane for bombs, according to officials.

The name of the suspect has not been released. He is being detained by the FBI.

Frontier Flight 601 from Knoxville to Denver was still in the air when Frontier personnel notified the Federal Aviation Administration that there was a security threat onboard the plane, said Laura Coale, spokeswoman for Denver International Airport.

The airplane landed safely at 7:30 p.m., according to Dave S. Joly, spokesman for the FBI in Colorado.

DIA staff called police and FBI agents and directed the pilot to take the airplane to a remote area of the airport, Coale said.

"It was not on the runway," she said.

FBI agents and Denver police officers boarded the flight and arrested a man.

"The actions of the passenger that has been detained alerted the crew and other passengers," Joly said.

No passengers or flight personnel were hurt, Coale said.

Passengers were led down "air stairs" and bused to a fire station, Coale said.

"All the passengers were questioned to get all the information we needed," she said. "Investigators talked to everyone who was aboard."

The Denver Police Department's bomb squad searched the plane, including all of the passenger luggage, Coale said.

The search took about three hours until 11:30 p.m. No explosives were discovered.

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"I can't go into any more details," Coale said.

The FBI continues to investigate the incident, Joly said.

Flights into and out of DIA were not affected by the emergency operation, Coale said.

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